Chapter 172 The Myth of Su Yuanshan
At this time and place, even the most utilitarian and worldly people were filled with endless longing and admiration for the idea of creating a great company. After all, this was still an era where ideals had not yet been shattered, and aspirations had not yet been tainted.
So when Su Yuanshan casually uttered the word "great," everyone in the room smiled knowingly.
"Therefore, our next focus must be on increasing support and investment in the CC language," Su Yuanshan said. "Based on our open-source community, we can even establish a dedicated foundation for it, providing a platform where outstanding and idealistic programmers can contribute their talents."
Chen Haoming nodded, though he hesitated. "Isn't it a little too early for that?"
"It's not too early," Su Yuanshan replied calmly. "Entering the market ahead of time will inevitably bring a lot of wasted investment, and it's very possible we might be overtaken by later entrants—becoming the first wave that dies on the beach, so to speak. But for Xinghai's overall image, it's absolutely positive."
"If Xinghai wants to be a revered company, it must act swiftly once it foresees the technological future. If we create a reputation for 'always delivering on our words,' then in the future, Xinghai will become a true giant—whenever we move, the whole world will pay attention."
The meaning was clear—Su Yuanshan was saying:
"My judgments have always been right. Now I'm moving into this new field—are you following me or not?"
The three of them nodded. At this moment, Carly suddenly looked at Su Yuanshan with interest and asked, "And what about Yuanxin?"
"Yuanxin?" Su Yuanshan paused, smiling at Carly, who smiled back.
"Yuanxin's path will be much tougher," he said, "but no matter how hard it is, it will continue striving to become a great company."
...
After finishing the discussion on strategy, a wave of exhaustion hit Su Yuanshan hard. His usual trick for adjusting to jet lag was to stay awake for twenty-four hours and then sleep it off. Now, he had been awake for almost thirty hours. After a quick shower, he collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep in less than five minutes.
Yang Yiwen quietly closed his door and soon received a call from Tang Wenjie saying the guys were all drunk and needed a pickup.
"Alright, let's all head out. I need to pick up Qin Si anyway," Chen Haoming said, glancing back at Su Yuanshan's closed door with a smile. "Let him sleep."
Carly nodded. "I'll go home. You all remember, we have a meeting at the company first thing tomorrow."
"Got it."
The three left together, each driving off separately. Once on the main road, Chen Haoming turned around and headed towards the airport.
Qin Si, who now headed Xinghai's venture capital division, was increasingly less involved with Xinghai's core operations. Even when she occasionally discussed business, it was limited to collaborative aspects. She deliberately stayed out of daily management—because that was Su Yuanshan's wish.
Recently, Qin Si had been negotiating a project in Pennsylvania. But since Su Yuanshan had arrived, she put everything on hold and prioritized meeting him.
Driving along the highway, Chen Haoming furrowed his brow and slowed down. He grabbed his Ericsson GSM phone and dialed Xi Xiaoding.
"Senior Brother... it's me. I hope I didn't disturb you?"
"No worries, I'm just about to get up. What's up, Haoming?"
"I have a doubt..." Chen Haoming said, staring at the car in front of him. After hesitating for a few seconds, he blurted out, "How well do you really know President Shan?"
It sounded like Xi Xiaoding chuckled softly. "Go ahead."
Chen Haoming took a deep breath, then carefully recounted everything Su Yuanshan had said during the earlier meeting.
On the other end of the line, the faint rustling sound of Xi Xiaoding getting dressed faded, leaving only his occasional hums of acknowledgment.
After Chen Haoming finished talking, there was a long silence. It felt like Xi Xiaoding was deep in thought.
Chen Haoming frowned and said slowly, "Senior Brother, I feel that President Shan is being overly cautious...
Facing Microsoft, he seems... a little timid.
And frankly, I don't really agree with him about the future dominance of CC language in webpage elements.
And when he says browsers will eventually become free... I mean, I admit we currently dominate the market using the shareware model, but if browsers become free, where's the revenue going to come from?
He didn't explain that either..."
After several seconds of silence, Xi Xiaoding finally spoke.
"Haoming, I haven't gotten deeply involved in Internet projects. Due to the state of domestic networks, my understanding of the Internet isn't as thorough as yours—
At the W3C conference recently, your insights really impressed me."
Hearing this unexpected compliment, Chen Haoming couldn't help but smile.
"But there's one thing I know better than you," Xi Xiaoding continued.
"What's that, Senior Brother?"
"That Xiaoshan sees everything more clearly than any of us," he said in a calm, even slightly firm voice.
"If he hasn't said something yet, it's not because he doesn't know.
It's because... it's not time to say it."
Chen Haoming was stunned for several seconds before he could smile wryly.
"Senior Brother, you're starting to sound a little superstitious.
This is practically hero worship!"
"You think I'm someone who worships people?" Xi Xiaoding asked back.
Chen Haoming laughed. That was true—there weren't many people in the world whom Xi Xiaoding admired.
"It's not superstition. It's recognition," Xi Xiaoding said.
"Look at every project Xiaoshan has personally touched—
Not a single one has failed.
Or to put it more precisely, not a single one has deviated from his original judgment."
"...Is he really that sharp?" Chen Haoming asked skeptically.
"Yes, he really is that sharp.
Until the day he truly makes a misjudgment,
the safest choice is to trust him unconditionally."
"..."
Chen Haoming drew a long breath and then chuckled.
"Alright, Senior Brother, I'll follow your lead."
"Good. I'll hang up now."
After hanging up, Chen Haoming lit a cigarette, then quickly remembered that Qin Si had a dog-like sense of smell—
if there was even a whiff of smoke in the car, she would blow up.
He hurriedly opened the window to air it out.
Not long after, he arrived at the airport.
Within half an hour, he saw Qin Si emerge from the terminal, carrying nothing but a jacket and a briefcase.
"You smoked in the car?" Qin Si asked suspiciously as soon as she sat down.
Chen Haoming's eyes darted. "They smoked. Not me."
"...Fine," Qin Si said, placing her jacket on her lap and fastening her seatbelt.
She glanced at her boyfriend and asked,
"Is President Shan still sleeping?"
"Yeah.
Before we left, he dragged us into a meeting at the villa for several hours,
restructured our software department's plans...
then passed out as soon as it ended," Chen Haoming said, switching on the headlights and driving toward the exit.
Qin Si watched him silently for a few seconds, then smiled faintly.
"What's wrong?
He adjusted your business plans and you're unhappy?"
Chen Haoming turned to glance at her. "Do I look unhappy?"
"I've been with you for three years.
You think I can't read your moods?" Qin Si teased, arms crossed, laughing.
"..."
"It's not unhappiness, just..."
Chen Haoming hesitated.
"I think... you all treat President Shan like some kind of myth.
From a software engineer's intuition,
I feel that's not healthy."
Qin Si looked at him for a moment, then smiled again.
"You'd better trust him."
"Huh?"
"As someone responsible for venture investments,
no one knows better than me about his judgment," Qin Si said leisurely, leaning back in her seat.
"If he ever decided to focus solely on venture capital...
he could easily become the next Morgan Stanley—
or crush Morgan Stanley without even trying."
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